Player Review
95 - TOTS
lucky for me (or maybe not so lucky), i managed to pack this lad a few hours after he came into packs. having previously used his headliner, i had mixed feelings about how he would perform. his headliner never really felt good on the ball, or had a good finish either, and seeing that the difference in shooting stats honestly is not that huge, i was quite sceptical about how he would perform. luckily however, EA released Modric just the day before so it wasn't entirely too hard to link him into the team. here's how i thought he played.
PACE - the acceleration boost EA have given him is good enough for him to finally feel rapid in-game and jet past defenders. his headliner never really felt fast enough for me, and almost always got caught by defenders no matter how fast or slow they were.
PASSING - overall, his passing is above par. he makes nice through balls can do driven cutback passes really effectively. where he excels most however, is with his freekicks. HE DOES NOT MISS. no matter what angle, how far out, if there's a man on the line or not, just move the marker close to the corner and it's destined to go in (99 FKA + 99 SHOT PWR + 99 CURVE)
DRIBBLING - given his lack of skill moves to get past defenders, his dribbling is good enough to shift past them quickly and effectively.
DEFENDING - surprisingly, defending seems to be his best trait. he always wins 1v1s and intercepts most balls that move past him. he's not super strong, but for a LW, 79 strength isn't too shabby.
SHOOTING - there's no reason why his shooting shouldn't be good, but it just isn't. his finishing feels below 80, so does his shot power. his shots ALWAYS get deflected. ALWAYS. it's like he's an auto-block magnet. his finesse shots are ok, but not good enough seeing that he has 99 curve AND the finesse shot trait.